WTA Prague 2017 – Predictions & Polls

Prague Scores – 18 / 28 (64%)

WTA Prague Final Prediction for Saturday

Day 6 – 1/1

Barthel d. Kr. Pliskova in 3 sets – A huge opportunity for both players! Kr. Pliskova won their most recent encounter in Doha earlier this year, 1-6 6-3 6-2. Edge possibly for Barthel on clay but I do worry about how her nerves may hold up in front of a home crowd. She just about got across the finish line against Strycova.

WTA Prague SF Predictions for Friday

Day 5 – 0/1

Strycova d. Barthel in 3 sets – Pondered going for Mona in this match because she has proven herself on clay. In the end, gone for Strycova as I think she will make life awkward for Barthel who will be playing her seventh match of the week.

WTA Prague QF Predictions for Thursday

Day 4 – 4/4

Barthel d. Giorgiin 3 sets – Unseeded match-up but both are quality players. Giorgi leads the head-to-head, 2-1 and won their last match, 6-4 in the third set on hard court. Barthel has been flying through her matches this week.

Strycova d. Siniakova in 2 sets – A three setter please, WTA gods… this could be a festival of drama! Haven’t watched much from either this week so this is a shot in the dark for me really. Siniakova won their most recent match in Prague two years ago at this stage. I like the way that Siniakova has battled through her first two rounds but my instinct is that Strycova gets the win this time.

Kr. Pliskova d. Haddad Maia in 3 sets – On the fence, I think Haddad Maia is more suited to clay but Kr. Pliskova will be the fresher as Haddad Maia will be playing for the sixth consecutive day having qualified.

Ostapenko d. Konjuh in 3 sets – Fun, fun, fun! Both had struggles closing out their second round wins, Ostapenko had the far tougher match as she was forced to save a match point against Wozniacki. Like Strycova-Siniakova, the last time Ostapenko and Konjuh played each other was in Prague – Konjuh won last year, 5-7 6-2 6-1. On the fence again, despite the H2H I actually like Ostapenko in this match-up. I think she can deal with pace and depth, and redirect, and the win over Woz was a big one. On a side note, going against Konjuh for the third match in a row, I feel like i’m guiding her through the rounds… which wouldn’t be a bad thing because I like Ana!

Vikhlyantseva d. Siniakova in 3 sets – Happened to catch some of Vikhlyantseva’s match against Golubic and she was stunning from the baseline. Siniakova will be a much tougher proposition but in this form, the Russian player has a good shot at the upset.

Strycova d. Hradecka in 2 sets– Nice to see Hradecka having a good week after she qualified for the main draw and then beat Linette in straights in the first round. Strycova had an impressive win over Goerges in the first round, dropping just four games, and i’d give her the nod in this one with a 5-1 head-to-head lead including five consecutive wins.

Ostapenko d. Wozniacki in 3 sets – Interesting match, Ostapenko leads the head-to-head, 2-0 and won recently in a cold and damp Charleston. Ostapenko had a sound first round win over Tsurenko and arrives off the back of a doubles title in Stuttgart. Wozniacki won her first match on red clay for a long while against Doi but i’d expect that she might be vulnerable here. A stern test for the Dane…

Vondrousova d. Konjuh in 3 sets– Great to see Konjuh win her first match on Tuesday since Dubai. This is a toss-up on clay for me, like what i’ve seen so far of Vondrousova and she seems to have a good temperament so I think she’ll use the crowd support to her advantage. Definitely upset worthy.

Giorgi d. Wang Qiang in 2 sets – A lot depends on Giorgi, the Italian has much sharper groundstrokes than the Chinese player but naturally, will make more errors. Giorgi won their only previous match at the start of the year, 6-0 6-2 in Shenzhen and has much more experience on the clay.

Stosur d. Haddad Maia in 2 sets– Fancy a tight two setter, Haddad Maia has shown some promise this year.

Barthel d. Dodin in 2 sets – The qualifiers had a superb day on Tuesday with all four of them progressing to the second round. Barthel’s 6-0 6-3 win over Zhang Shuai wasn’t even the most emphatic win of the day! Both have had solid results on the clay in the past but I think Barthel has built up a nice wedge of confidence this week and will find a more effective balance between defence and attack.

WTA Prague R1 Predictions for Tuesday

Day 2 – 8/11

Wozniacki d. Doi in 2 sets – While Wozniacki is not at her best on clay, Doi has lost her last four matches on tour in straight sets. While the Japanese player does come alive from time-to-time, i’d fancy Woz to be too solid.

Goerges d. Strycova in 3 sets – The pair played very recently in Biel where Goerges was forced to retire early on in the third set due to injury. Since then, Goerges enjoyed a fabulous Fed Cup weekend where she helped Germany win their tie with Ukraine. Goerges has won two of their three previous encounters on clay and I think her good recent form could help her get the win this time round.

Siniakova d. Kovinic in 2 sets – Poor Kovinic has lost her last nine matches on tour. The win has got to come somewhere and it’s most likely to come on her favoured surface of clay. Siniakova hasn’t pushed on since winning her first title in Shenzhen in the first week of the year but i’d still take the Czech player to prevail.

Stosur d. Rodina in 2 sets – Rodina has had an OK year, winning seven matches and only one off Stosur’s total of eight for the year. Stosur’s start to the clay court season hasn’t been convincing but this is still a great surface for her so I do anticipate she’ll get through this match. Stosur won her only previous match against Rodina at the 2015 US Open, 6-1 6-1.

Hradecka d. Linette in 2 sets– Hradecka has spent most of her year in qualifying and this will be only her second WTA main draw of the year. Hradecka has a 2-0 H2H record against Linette and history in Prague and on clay where she reached the final of this tournament back in 2015.

Jankovic d. Kr. Pliskova in 3 sets – Would normally always goes for JJ in this time of match-up on clay. However, the Serb is really struggling this year, particularly mentally in having the confidence to close out matches.

Cepelova d. Konjuh in 3 sets – Konjuh is on a bit of a shaky run, having lost her last four matches. On the fence with this one as I expect Konjuh to click in somewhere as she hasn’t been playing badly and has had some tough matches. Cepelova though is a tricky player on clay and she reached the semi-finals of Istanbul last year. In their only previous match, Cepelova beat Konjuh, 7-6(3) 4-6 7-6(7) in Dubai in 2013.

Haddad Maia d. McHale in 3 sets – Hmm could see this one going either way, McHale’s barely picking up wins of late and Haddad Maia has been winning a lot of matches on various circuits.

Vikhlyantseva d Golubicin 3 sets – Interesting to see how Golubic gets on following a brutal week in Fed Cup where she fought hard but lost two three setters. Vikhlyantseva dropped just nine (!) games through three qualifying wins. Vikhlyantseva has some weaknesses in being at the net but not sure that Golubic will be able to exploit them.

Barthel d. Zhang Shuai in 2 sets – Barthel has won all three previous matches in straight sets and has three wins through qualifying. Zhang Shuai has won just two of her last eight matches and clay has never really been a good surface for her.

Ostapenko d. Tsurenkoin 3 sets – Tsurenko won their only previous match in Acapulco two months ago. On a different surface and buoyed by a doubles title in Stuttgart, I could see the result switching around.

WTA Prague R1 Predictions for Monday

Day 1 – 1/4

Vondrousova d. Witthoeft in 3 sets– First time match-up, a tricky one to call! Vondrousova had a tremendous breakthrough in Biel where she won her first WTA title. Her record on clay of 18-9 is not too shabby and she’ll be at home. I’ve always liked Witthoeft and she’s done OK this year. I don’t want to jump on the bandwagon with Vondrousova butttt I kind of am and when someone wins a title from nowhere, you sit up and take notice! I’m hoping to catch the match tomorrow as I didn’t see a great deal of her matches from Biel.

Pliskova d. Giorgi in 2 sets– Neither player is at their best on the surface but i’d take Pliskova as she has been extremely consistent this year. Giorgi’s not had a bad year to be honest, but I think Pliskova has the measure of her having won all three previous matches including a 6-1 6-2 win in the quarter-finals of Prague last year.

Sakkari d. Wang Qiang in 3 sets– Wang Qiang is having a superb year, posting a 15-7 W-L record including a title in her most recent tournament in Zhengzhou. However, her best form has always been on hard court as she has a 4-8 career record on clay and has never beaten a top 150 player on this surface. I can’t see why Wang Qiang’s won’t translate to this surface but she’ll face a tough match against Sakkari, a player who will get a lot of balls back into play.

Beck d. Dodin in 3 sets – This is a classic big hitters vs. defensive player match-up. Both have had disappointing years but on this occasion, i’d go for Beck’s consistency to be the difference on this surface.